I'm somebody who's been casually interested in Warhammer for years, mostly through the video games, art and general aesthetic. Feels like an impossible task to get into this universe without dedicating hundreds of hours so this video is really useful in case I want to jump in and get a hit of this dark universe. Great video as always
I genuinely think a lot of these books are just solid books, without needing to buy in to the entire shebang. That being said I have been 100% bought in for like, 2 decades so I may not be unbiased 😂 Thanks so much!
Awesome! It's good to have someone well read agree with my choices, I will admit I was worried people would argue more with me :D Howdy from Australia! Thanks so much for watching! (Hey if you have the time, I'd love to know if my Amazon links below redirect to the proper german amazon when clicked, not trying to trick you into buying anything just interested if I set up the redirects correctly :D)
Glad to see Betrayer/The First Heretic so high up read most of the traitor perspective books and the duel at the end of betrayer is iconic. I'm a big fan of the Erebus short story Child of Chaos he's such a unapologetic character love to hate him
The one Warhammer-related purchase I haven't made since becoming a fan during the pandemic-- an ereader. At this point, they should offer one. I wish the Black Library had the money (???) to keep their books in print after a certain date (until the next date, years and years later). Got me a well-loved Flight of the Eisenstein for [redacted]. Got the hardback of Titanicus in great condition for [redacted, except this time it was a steal]. As a lifelong lover of novels and a more recent lover of Warhammer-- greatly enjoying the Infinite and the Divine is natural and appropriate. It's the most unique book I've read from the Black Library, and one of the most accomplished literarily.
Agreed, The Infinite and The Divine was great, I really hope it starts a push for more interesting Xeno fronted BL books. I'm not sure I would want a Games Workshop e-reader, unless it came on a sprue and you had to put it together yourself :D. My go to format for the books I can't get is Audiobook, the narrators they get are almost always fantastic.
@BenjaminsBookclub I'm bad at audiobooks, personally, but I'm more down to assemble my own eReader than you could fathom haha! Thanks again for the video!
I'm about half way through Xenos atm based off your recommendation. Kinda gives me batman vibes, stern badass plays detective. Would probably be the perfect series for amazon to adapt for a TV series.
Batman is a good call for an inquisitor. I think when recording was the first time I realized I may have to describe what an inquisitor is, without just saying the word "inquisitor" it's odd, having been involved with warhammer lore or like 2 decades, the idea of not knowing what an inquisitor was didn't cross my mind. I think Eisenhorn would be the perfect TV show!
I've only read a handful of Warhammer 40k books so far, but I can already tell that Aaron Dembski-Bowden will be one of my favorite authors. I'm reading his Night Lords Omnibus rn. Talos is such a fun character to read about
He is just fantastic, the only things of his I havnt read Ive avoided because he keeps making me buy new armies by making them interesting, black Templars, black Legion, emperors spears, word eaters.....
@BenjaminsBookclub lol I got ahead of that. Before I fully got into the lore of Warhammer 40k, i told my wife to never let me get into army building no matter what. That way I don't financially cripple my family 😂
:D ha that's amazing, I should get an audible sponsorship one day haha, Ive had an account for like over a decade so I'm sure I'd still be in the negatives :D Thanks so much :)
Oh, this is great. I had picked up a few of your other warhammer recommendations from previous videos, great to have a video to come back to for the next one :)
Woo awesome! Thanks for checking it out! Let me know what you think of anything you've grabbed!! My favourite thing is when people come back and update me!
ADB wants to write more but GW wont give the greenlight (He talked about writing another NL trilogy on his twitter a couple of years ago). Or he might be writing something right now and we dont even know
ADB has been very public about mental health issues that kept him from writing for a long time. I believe (and this is 100% from memory and could very well be wrong) that he is currently working on Emperors Spears book 2? I think GW is trying to push books in factions they offer models for, I suspect we would see another Night Lords trilogy from him if GW ever makes them a proper 40k supported army unfortunately.
@@BenjaminsBookclub it's probably because night lords miniatures don't sell much. Just unfortunate, they are probably the only real renegade legion and therefore more interesting because most of them usually hate both sides
Although you've got a very solid top list, I'd argue with a huge amount of The Horus Heresy books. I'd recommend to add some Warhammer Crime novels, Bloodlines is just amazing. Then I'd add The Vaults of Terra trilogy. It reveals life of usual imperial citizens. Chris Wraight is so masterful in WH40k worldbuiling. Then let's talk about "recent" events. Dark Imperium trilogy is just gorgeous. Check it out, you'll definitely love it. The Avenging Son, the first book of "Dawn of Fire" series is a solid novel with so many POVs. Again, that's something that I think is worth reading even without checking my library, :) Thanks for the video, we need more booktubers who talk about cyberpunk and Warhammer 40000. Cheers!
I've picked up a few of the Warhammer crime books now, havnt got to them yet though. I read the first vaults of terra book, but it didn't grip me, and I was listening to the audio book in short bursts, if I can find a paperback of it I think I'd give it another go. I also just picked up dark imperium to give that one a go! Thanks so much for watching!
Having recently finished the night lord trilogy, holy hell, what a series. I’ve dived into the black legion books but they don’t quite stack up. The only book/books that I’d possibly put into my top 10 that’s different from yours are: Legion (love a spy novel, turns out spy novel with bolters is dope) And the Abnett’s Gaunts Ghosts series, with Necropolis being the standout within that series. Have you dove into any of the Warhammer Horror series, I’ve heard some good things?
I have just finished Guns of Tanith in the Ghost books, agreed that Necropolis is the best so far, but Guns of Tanith was close for me, keen to continue the series. I did love Legion, I bounced off it when I first tried reading it many years ago, not sure why, I think I was looking for more of the standard heresy stories with space marines and battles. But when I came back to it a few years ago I fell in love with it. I haven't read any of the Warhammer Horror books, but I have been considering them, also been eyeing the Warhammer Crime books.
getting right into it made me instantly like the video, although at 1:00 there's an error where you referred to Dante as a "primarch" when he's actually a Chapter Master..
I need to check that one out, I have heard good things, I think when picking a long running guard series to read I just went with the easy choice of Gaunts Ghosts, but I have room for more Guard books, I can put them next to my 15 Leman Russ models and 2 Baneblades :D
@@HistoritorJimaldus Do you dislike the primaris and Cawl for his heresy or something? lol I came in after primaris so I personally don't care about that and just love him as a character. If you haven't read it, you should check out "Genefather" by Guy Haley. It follows up the great work and I feel like the two are really a set. I just counted, and I have only read 40 warhammer books so far but the great work is definitely in my top 10, heresy or not.
@@charlesnunya2347 I do like Cawl, I’ve read about 110 now I think 🤔 it would sneak into my top 30 (if not combining omnibuses). I have the Bile trilogy to finish then I’ll tackle Genefather :)
The first 3 books were all on and off this list a lot during its like, 15 iterations haha. I think it comes down to my feeling that the first three, and First Heretic, tell a similar story, in the corruption of a primarch and the legion, and for my money I think First Heretic does it slightly better? Its 100% subjective. The first 3 books, and Fulgrim would probably be #11 and #12 though.
The situation surrounding physical copies of the all the books is so sad. Around two years ago a buddy gave me The Founding omnibus of gaunts ghosts and I have been hooked ever since. All I want to do is finish the series but they are books online for over 800 dollars, I WANT to give you my money black library lmao
It's crazy. There is like $700 of books I want, at MSSRP, if Black Library just made them available. If Indie authors can get amazon to print books for them on demand, I'm sure Black Library can sort something out, it's awful.
The second and third Gaunt’s omnibus editions are rarer and expensive ($50+) but the individual books and later collected editions are still going for reasonable amounts
Out of curiosity and this question could be for anyone. With so many many books being in The Horus Heresy story arc should they be read in order as they are numbered or is there a reading order that maybe connects the different books in the series better? Much like in this video where you mention a couple books that talk about the same events but aren’t numbered one after the other in the series. This may be a more complicated answer than I realize since I’m new to this universe if so I apologize.
The first three books should be read first 1. Horus Rising, 2. False Gods & 3. Galaxy In Flames. as these books marks the very beginnings of the heresy Book 4 The Flight Of The Eisenstein takes places straight after the events of book 3 but can be skipped The rest of the books can be read in any order as the time line skipps all over the place after book 3. The Siege Of Terra books mark the very end of the heresy, so should be read last or after you've read all the books from the heresy series that your interested in
I'd say read the first three, I would say read book 4 just because it's really good, after that you can mostly just pick and choose from which storylines interest you, lots of big scary graphs you can check out too.
I'm somebody who's been casually interested in Warhammer for years, mostly through the video games, art and general aesthetic. Feels like an impossible task to get into this universe without dedicating hundreds of hours so this video is really useful in case I want to jump in and get a hit of this dark universe. Great video as always
I genuinely think a lot of these books are just solid books, without needing to buy in to the entire shebang. That being said I have been 100% bought in for like, 2 decades so I may not be unbiased 😂
Thanks so much!
Know No Fear is one of the few Heresy books I reread a lot. Genuinely an outstanding book.
I've only read it twice, but I am considering giving the Audiobook a go for a third read!
A disaster movie that becomes a war story
It is a great list you have their. I red over 150 books in the Warhammer Universe and i totaly agree with you.
Greetings from Germany
Awesome! It's good to have someone well read agree with my choices, I will admit I was worried people would argue more with me :D
Howdy from Australia! Thanks so much for watching!
(Hey if you have the time, I'd love to know if my Amazon links below redirect to the proper german amazon when clicked, not trying to trick you into buying anything just interested if I set up the redirects correctly :D)
@@BenjaminsBookclub no problem. it redirects just fine 🙂
Glad to see Betrayer/The First Heretic so high up read most of the traitor perspective books and the duel at the end of betrayer is iconic. I'm a big fan of the Erebus short story Child of Chaos he's such a unapologetic character love to hate him
Some of the bits of Betrayer, left me speechless, I won't say what for spoilers but I had to put the book down and go for a walk after one reveal.
The one Warhammer-related purchase I haven't made since becoming a fan during the pandemic-- an ereader. At this point, they should offer one. I wish the Black Library had the money (???) to keep their books in print after a certain date (until the next date, years and years later).
Got me a well-loved Flight of the Eisenstein for [redacted]. Got the hardback of Titanicus in great condition for [redacted, except this time it was a steal].
As a lifelong lover of novels and a more recent lover of Warhammer-- greatly enjoying the Infinite and the Divine is natural and appropriate. It's the most unique book I've read from the Black Library, and one of the most accomplished literarily.
Agreed, The Infinite and The Divine was great, I really hope it starts a push for more interesting Xeno fronted BL books.
I'm not sure I would want a Games Workshop e-reader, unless it came on a sprue and you had to put it together yourself :D. My go to format for the books I can't get is Audiobook, the narrators they get are almost always fantastic.
@BenjaminsBookclub I'm bad at audiobooks, personally, but I'm more down to assemble my own eReader than you could fathom haha!
Thanks again for the video!
I'm about half way through Xenos atm based off your recommendation. Kinda gives me batman vibes, stern badass plays detective. Would probably be the perfect series for amazon to adapt for a TV series.
Batman is a good call for an inquisitor. I think when recording was the first time I realized I may have to describe what an inquisitor is, without just saying the word "inquisitor" it's odd, having been involved with warhammer lore or like 2 decades, the idea of not knowing what an inquisitor was didn't cross my mind.
I think Eisenhorn would be the perfect TV show!
Hell yeah dude solid list, glad to see night lords getting the love it deserves
Thanks!! I would love more ADB night lords books
The moment I saw Eisenhorn & Infinite/Divine on the list I knew this man’s opinion could be trusted wholeheartedly.
This man Warhammers.
Ha Thanks so much! I have been known to Warhammer from time to time.
Great video. You really feel your passion for the material in it. Keep releasing content 👍🏻
Thanks so much! Means a lot
Have not read nearly as many of these as you but I have read enough to know that ADB is the best 40K author.
He is just brilliant!
It is certainly arguable! Chris Wraight is a contender too, and Dan Abnett of course.
I've only read a handful of Warhammer 40k books so far, but I can already tell that Aaron Dembski-Bowden will be one of my favorite authors. I'm reading his Night Lords Omnibus rn. Talos is such a fun character to read about
He is just fantastic, the only things of his I havnt read Ive avoided because he keeps making me buy new armies by making them interesting, black Templars, black Legion, emperors spears, word eaters.....
@BenjaminsBookclub lol I got ahead of that. Before I fully got into the lore of Warhammer 40k, i told my wife to never let me get into army building no matter what. That way I don't financially cripple my family 😂
@@thneakythniper Ha, I got the little plastic space man bug back when I was like, 12, there was never any hope for me. 😅
I just find myself watching your videos and switching back and forth between RUclips and my audible account. Some great videos!
:D ha that's amazing, I should get an audible sponsorship one day haha, Ive had an account for like over a decade so I'm sure I'd still be in the negatives :D
Thanks so much :)
Oh, this is great. I had picked up a few of your other warhammer recommendations from previous videos, great to have a video to come back to for the next one :)
Woo awesome! Thanks for checking it out! Let me know what you think of anything you've grabbed!! My favourite thing is when people come back and update me!
I still wonder why the night lords never got subsequent books
I think Night Lords story is done as is.
ADB wants to write more but GW wont give the greenlight (He talked about writing another NL trilogy on his twitter a couple of years ago). Or he might be writing something right now and we dont even know
ADB has been very public about mental health issues that kept him from writing for a long time. I believe (and this is 100% from memory and could very well be wrong) that he is currently working on Emperors Spears book 2?
I think GW is trying to push books in factions they offer models for, I suspect we would see another Night Lords trilogy from him if GW ever makes them a proper 40k supported army unfortunately.
@@BenjaminsBookclub it's probably because night lords miniatures don't sell much. Just unfortunate, they are probably the only real renegade legion and therefore more interesting because most of them usually hate both sides
Although you've got a very solid top list, I'd argue with a huge amount of The Horus Heresy books. I'd recommend to add some Warhammer Crime novels, Bloodlines is just amazing. Then I'd add The Vaults of Terra trilogy. It reveals life of usual imperial citizens. Chris Wraight is so masterful in WH40k worldbuiling. Then let's talk about "recent" events. Dark Imperium trilogy is just gorgeous. Check it out, you'll definitely love it. The Avenging Son, the first book of "Dawn of Fire" series is a solid novel with so many POVs. Again, that's something that I think is worth reading even without checking my library, :) Thanks for the video, we need more booktubers who talk about cyberpunk and Warhammer 40000. Cheers!
I've picked up a few of the Warhammer crime books now, havnt got to them yet though.
I read the first vaults of terra book, but it didn't grip me, and I was listening to the audio book in short bursts, if I can find a paperback of it I think I'd give it another go.
I also just picked up dark imperium to give that one a go!
Thanks so much for watching!
Watchers of the Throne > Vaults of Terra - both by Chris Wraight, both happening on Terra at the same time :)
Having recently finished the night lord trilogy, holy hell, what a series. I’ve dived into the black legion books but they don’t quite stack up.
The only book/books that I’d possibly put into my top 10 that’s different from yours are:
Legion (love a spy novel, turns out spy novel with bolters is dope)
And the Abnett’s Gaunts Ghosts series, with Necropolis being the standout within that series.
Have you dove into any of the Warhammer Horror series, I’ve heard some good things?
I have just finished Guns of Tanith in the Ghost books, agreed that Necropolis is the best so far, but Guns of Tanith was close for me, keen to continue the series.
I did love Legion, I bounced off it when I first tried reading it many years ago, not sure why, I think I was looking for more of the standard heresy stories with space marines and battles. But when I came back to it a few years ago I fell in love with it.
I haven't read any of the Warhammer Horror books, but I have been considering them, also been eyeing the Warhammer Crime books.
@@BenjaminsBookclubthe ending to Guns of Tanith stays with you… sure as sure 😅
@@BenjaminsBookclub yeah the guns of tanith ends with a real punch.
getting right into it made me instantly like the video, although at 1:00 there's an error where you referred to Dante as a "primarch" when he's actually a Chapter Master..
Ah damnit, I did that a few times when recording😔 thought I'd caught them all.
Oh well thanks for finding it 😄
My favourite series is The Last Chancers.
I need to check that one out, I have heard good things, I think when picking a long running guard series to read I just went with the easy choice of Gaunts Ghosts, but I have room for more Guard books, I can put them next to my 15 Leman Russ models and 2 Baneblades :D
There’s no pa-pow links coming up 😅
How you don't have "Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work" on this list can only mean that you have not read it... you really need to read it.
You are absolutely correct, it is on my TBR pile, I think I might get to it in November :D
It’s good but wouldn’t make my top ten
@@HistoritorJimaldus Do you dislike the primaris and Cawl for his heresy or something? lol I came in after primaris so I personally don't care about that and just love him as a character.
If you haven't read it, you should check out "Genefather" by Guy Haley. It follows up the great work and I feel like the two are really a set.
I just counted, and I have only read 40 warhammer books so far but the great work is definitely in my top 10, heresy or not.
@@charlesnunya2347 I do like Cawl, I’ve read about 110 now I think 🤔 it would sneak into my top 30 (if not combining omnibuses). I have the Bile trilogy to finish then I’ll tackle Genefather :)
Amazing list. Just wanted to know why you left our Horus Rising. Not mad or anything. Just genuinely curious.
The first 3 books were all on and off this list a lot during its like, 15 iterations haha. I think it comes down to my feeling that the first three, and First Heretic, tell a similar story, in the corruption of a primarch and the legion, and for my money I think First Heretic does it slightly better? Its 100% subjective.
The first 3 books, and Fulgrim would probably be #11 and #12 though.
The situation surrounding physical copies of the all the books is so sad. Around two years ago a buddy gave me The Founding omnibus of gaunts ghosts and I have been hooked ever since. All I want to do is finish the series but they are books online for over 800 dollars, I WANT to give you my money black library lmao
It's crazy. There is like $700 of books I want, at MSSRP, if Black Library just made them available.
If Indie authors can get amazon to print books for them on demand, I'm sure Black Library can sort something out, it's awful.
The second and third Gaunt’s omnibus editions are rarer and expensive ($50+) but the individual books and later collected editions are still going for reasonable amounts
Out of curiosity and this question could be for anyone. With so many many books being in The Horus Heresy story arc should they be read in order as they are numbered or is there a reading order that maybe connects the different books in the series better? Much like in this video where you mention a couple books that talk about the same events but aren’t numbered one after the other in the series. This may be a more complicated answer than I realize since I’m new to this universe if so I apologize.
The first three books should be read first 1. Horus Rising, 2. False Gods & 3. Galaxy In Flames. as these books marks the very beginnings of the heresy
Book 4 The Flight Of The Eisenstein takes places straight after the events of book 3 but can be skipped
The rest of the books can be read in any order as the time line skipps all over the place after book 3.
The Siege Of Terra books mark the very end of the heresy, so should be read last or after you've read all the books from the heresy series that your interested in
I'd say read the first three, I would say read book 4 just because it's really good, after that you can mostly just pick and choose from which storylines interest you, lots of big scary graphs you can check out too.
Wish Chaos Knights had a book from their POV :/
That would be super cool. I've got the Knights blade book but I havnt read it yet.
Have you seen Mira Manga’s interviews with some of these authors? :) she has one with Abnett on Titanicus
Ohh I havnt I'll check them out thanks!!